Our Year Without

Saturday, March 7, 2009

I feel myself being pulled to the dark side! I have been so darn busy this week that I haven't had time to go grocery shopping. Because of that we've been eating out. It needs to stop. I need to buy some food and start cooking again. I'm just not sure when in the heck I'm going to have time to do that! I really need my life to settle down. REALLY!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

It's been a while since I've been grocery shopping. I know I need to go, but I've been so darn busy lately that I just haven't made it there :( I could go after I put Mac to bed, but by the time I do that I have no desire to go. Maybe I'll squeak by and go on Saturday.

So...We had Chipotle for dinner last night. It was yummy. $16 down the drain, but it was worth it.

Today was totally not worth it though. I spent $10 on lunch at the zoo and it sucked. I definitely should have packed my lunch. Next time I know!

Tomorrow we're going to storytime and out to lunch with a friend from High School that moved to McKinney! I think this month is going to get me in trouble...hee hee!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Where did February go? I really have no idea how we did the last week of February. With all of us having a stomach virus I sort of lost track of the week. I know we ate out more in 1 week than we did all month. I'm hoping it wasn't that bad though.

I know I said this last month, but this month I'm for real...haha! I'm going to save my receipts. I'm really going to! Really ;)

This month is going to be expensive. Maybe I should pretend March doesn't exist and start over in April. With Mac's birthday playdate, birthday party, birthday presents, etc it's going to get pricey. Oh well. She only turns 1 once!!

Friday, February 20, 2009

I went to Freebirds today with Evette. A friend of hers bought $100 worth of Mac's clothes! WHOO HOO (I need the little dancing banana on here...hee hee)!! So....I met her in Addison for lunch and gave her the clothes. It was nice to get rid of them. It was even nicer to remove them from the mound of clothes I have to iron, tag, and hang for Divine Consign. That saved me some time :)

So, I spent money on lunch ($8ish dollars). Then I went and picked up Mac's b-day invites. I was very sad when I opened them and realized I made the wrong decision on which one to use. The 2nd option printed much cuter! I brought them home, showed them to Aaron, and he agreed. We decided to spend the money and have the 2nd one printed to use for her invites. Thankfully they had a problem printing them and gave me a nice discount on the 2nd round. Then I went to Michaels for cute pink envelopes. It's amazing how much they charge for envelopes just because they're a different color (sigh)!

Then tonight we went out to dinner for A's b-day! Thankfully that was his Mom's treat. It was yummy and Mac got to see her boyfriend ;)

Thursday, February 19, 2009

I'm sooo bad with blogging lately. Really bad! And by the time I remember to blog I can't remember what I've spent money on :( I don't THINK I've spent money on anything lately, but I'm really not sure...haha! I bought lunch for me and Valerie yesterday, but my Mom paid for that with my Mommy Allowance ;)

Tomorrow is Aaron's birthday and I haven't bought him a single thing. We're not supposed to be spending money on stuff that's not needed. Well...we don't need a thing. Neither one of us. He bought me a sterling silver necklace a few weeks ago for my b-day with Mac's name on it. This is the first time in 8 yrs since we've been together that I don't have my own money. So if I buy him something he's buying himself something. I'd rather him just go buy himself a treat that he wouldn't have bought otherwise. Who knows... I feel like crap for not worrying about it sooner. There are just bigger fish to fry right now. We found out yesterday his company was doing a paycut across the company. Sucks to be us. Maybe I'll be going back to work sooner than I thought :(

Monday, February 16, 2009

We went out to eat at Chipotle yesterday for the first time this month. Well...we've been out to eat, but this was the 1st time on our dime. I had to buy some fabric at JoAnn's this weekend for Mac's party favors and I also bought her a wrapped canvas to paint when she turns 1 (we'll see how that goes!). So...I think I spent about $15 there. Not bad. We also had to buy a b-day present yesterday for Aaron's Goddaughter, but we spent far less than we normally would have. I was very proud of us!!

Monday, February 9, 2009

I haven't been grocery shopping in a while and we were running out of things to eat here. I needed to go to the store, but it is my absolute least favorite thing to do. I will try and avoid it at all cost which is why in the past we ate out so much (well that and not wanting to do dishes...haha!).

So my Dad said he was coming by to drop off some Coke and Diet Coke he bought for us. I told him I had to go to the store and he said he'd go with me.

We unloaded the cart and when I went to swipe my card he said "I already took care of that?" HUH? I wanted to do a back flip! What a nice surprise!

Followers

Rules

The Rules

They're really quite simple, yet oh so difficult. For one year, we must follow these rules:

We really only have 1 rule. I'm going to try and break some things down though, so we have some guidance. Our #1 rule is simply SPEND LESS!!

REDUCE BUYING NEW THINGSUnless it is absolutely necessary the item does not need to be purchased.

GIFTSSignificantly reduce the cost of spending on immediate family members. No gifts for friends unless it is handmade.

NO FRIVOLOUS SPENDINGIf we can survive another year without it, we can't buy it.If it costs more than $100, we must find it used, or borrow it.

LESS EATING OUTWe are each allowed to spend $40 per month on eating out or buying specialty drinks (coffee, bubble tea, etc).As a family we're allowed $100 per month to eat out.

OUTINGSNo more than 1 special outing per month. (Zoo, museum, etc.)

Exclusions:- Mackenzie's 1st Birthday party is off limits :) I will definitely keep my spending in line and not over-do it.- Pictures with Chera for Mac's 1st Birthday and Christmas.- Halloween Costume for Mackenzie (if I can not figure out how to make her one).- Christmas presents (we will definitely reduce the amount of money spent though).- If we want a "treat" we have to sell something in order to buy it.